Archive for February, 2012

Looking for healthy workout snacks? More and more of my clients struggle to find more natural food choices to keep them fueled during or after an endurance event or longer training sessions (over 60 minutes) since most of the options seem pretty processed. When it comes to endurance events or longer training sessions, it’s best to stay hydrated and fueled. Think replenish instead of replace. Below are some ideas for you to stay fueled and hydrated during and right after your endurance event:
• Frozen grapes are sweet and refreshing and can easily be carried with you in a small sandwich bag. They are also easy to eat on the go. To prepare the grapes, cut them in half and then freeze. During the event or training session when you are ready for a snack, pop one in your mouth and slowly eat. It’s like a snack and a bit of water rolled into one!
• If you like to use energy gels an alternative would be some local, natural honey. Not only will it help you refuel, but it will also give your immunity a boost.
• To replace electrolytes after a longer training session or event, replenish your body with 100% natural coconut water Instead of Gatorade, Powerade or other juice. These drinks can be loaded with artificial sweeteners among other questionable things.
Your body can process about 200-300 calories into energy per hour. Think of this when determining portion sizes and how often you should eat during the event or training session.

Jina Schaefer, founder of Discover Health, has been helping people reach their wellness and weight loss goals since 2002. Check out her company’s website for more information on Jina and her programs. http://mydiscoverhealth.com/

Ever wonder why chiropractors keep you coming back again and again? It seems this has been a common question in my office lately. While everyone knows there is no magic off button for pain relief, everyone wishes that there was one. Most people “just got this neck pain” or “back just started hurting yesterday” . While this may be true, most people have simply not been aware of how stiff and immobile they have gotten over the years. While the pain wasn’t present, the stiffness and lack of flexibility was starting to creep in. You may have thought, “I really should stretch more” or “maybe someday I will get back in shape or take up yoga”. It may have occurred to you that countless hours on a laptop, ipad or behind the wheel of a car weren’t the best thing but a necessary evil. While you might not have felt pain, slowly your spine lost its ability to move correctly and your muscles shortened and lost their flexibility. It may have happened so slowly you didn’t even notice or maybe you did notice and chose to ignore it instead. Over time when your body develops muscle imbalances and the mobility of your spine changes. What most don’t realize is that the shape of the spine actually starts to change and small problems with your posture become more set in and difficult to change without help. Sooner or later, you end up with pain and need to see a chiropractor.

Chiropractic takes time to work. Lots of it. Short term pain relief of an hour or two or even a couple days comes quickly. Changing your posture, changing your spines ability to move, changing your muscle health and structure take time. Months in fact. All muscles have memory and your body wants to go back to its old patterns instead of creating new healthy ones. That is why adjustments need to be repeated again and again. Your body is learning new patterns of mobility and until the new ones can take over for the old ones, the changes from adjustments will be short-lived.

What can you do to help yourself? Keep your appointments. If we can’t touch you, we can’t affect any change. Unfortunately we can’t give you an adjustment in a pill form for you to take home. I need to see you in my office to change anything. Your adjustment schedule, while inconvenient at times, is really important to keep. If you miss one out of three appointments each week, you are only getting 65% of the treatment I recommend. If it doesn’t work–that’s the number one reason.

Secondly-Be active. Your body wasn’t made to sit all day. Too many people spend most of their day at work sitting. What do they do when they get home? Sit more. Get out and move. Families lives are focused around kids sports and activities. If sports are so important for them, why aren’t they for you as an adult? Everyone needs to have some sort of exercise they do on a regular basis to stay healthy.

Third–Stretch. If I haven’t given you stretches in my office, ask me for a couple. Or better yet, check out previous blog posts for all sorts of stretching tips and pictures. Or, best yet, take up yoga. How can you go wrong with a full hour of stretching? I recommend hot yoga or ashtanga yoga or gentle yoga versus a vinyasa/power yoga. It will be gentler on your body and more geared toward stretching and lengthening your muscles, not building your athleticism.

If you have been doing all these things and not getting the results you want, talk to your doctor. We may be missing something or there may be a simple addition to your treatment plan or slightly different adjustment technique that will give you better results.

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Without exceptions December is always the month I feel I am combating the winter blues. As those of us in Minnesota know, we’ve been lucky this winter. That doesn’t mean that the lack of light, brown all-around and weather that is just warm enough to tempt but not enough to sit outside doesn’t start to have an impact.

Here are some tips I’ve found for combating the winter blah’s. First of all, cold or not, getting outside makes all the difference. Having a chance to breathe fresh air that hasn’t been recirculated through your office or house makes a big difference. Whether it is to take your dog for a walk, go on a Sunday afternoon hike, or visit a local ski area (which are perfectly groomed this year) being outside will automatically make you feel better.

Secondly, make sure your nutrition is up to par. This means drastic reductions in the amount of sugar you put in your body because as we know, sugar makes us moody. I don’t think I need to site any research sources here, anyone with a five year old has seen this in action. Cut back on the caffeine if you have a tendency to get anxious, it will only make you more jittery.

Third, exercise consistently. Research shows that the best way to up serotonin (the happy hormone) levels is not with a pill, it is with daily exercise. Find something you enjoy and get active again. Your body is made to move.

Fourth, make sure your Vitamin D intake is sufficient. You need Vitamin D for your body to absorb calcium so that you have strong healthy bones. Your body makes it from sunlight and if like today, you aren’t getting any, you’re missing out. Check with your doctor on the appropriate dose and source.

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Active Family Chiropractic is your best choice for family, pediatric, sports-related, and golf-centered chiropractic care in the western suburban communities of Plymouth, Minnetonka, Wayzata, and Maple Grove, Minnesota.